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Hi I'm Thayne

I'm a computer geek, expatriate, adventurist and a Mormon.

About Me

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The best way to describe me is: jack of all trades, master of none - everything about me seems to be "a work in progress".
I've done a little of everything; From snowboarding deep and steep double black runs, climbing the tallest peaks in America, writing machine learning and 3D graphics algorithms, gutting and rebuilding my own house and moving to the other side of the world. I've been from the extreme highs like class-5 rapids to extreme lows of physical pain from a broken back and mental and spiritual pain from what I call "second-hand depression".
I am currently living and working in Japan with my family beside me and loving every minute.
My philosophy is - if it isn't challenging, let somebody else do it.

Why I am a Mormon

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I'm a Mormon because God answers my prayers. I ask him all kinds of questions and the Mormon thing is one of those answers. The key to prayer is to be willing to follow the answer with all of your heart, no matter what it may be. (Even if your answer is to move to the other side of the planet.) If you're not completely committed to act on His answer to your prayer, you don't get an answer. Period. Don't expect to get an answer all at once either, it doesn't always happen that way.
The Mormon question changed my life, and continues to do so every day.

How I live my faith

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I serve in my church as a leader and minister for the local highschool-age boys. We participate in service and character-building activities (such as enjoying the great outdoors). English is my native language. I can speak a decent amount of Japanese, but understanding "teenager" Japanese is proving to be a real challenge!
My faith teaches me that serving people is the same as serving God. Serving at home, serving in church, serving in the community, making friends and being a good friend is what life should be about. I've personally found that Japan is a beautiful country, but the real jewel of Japan is its people. Perhaps this is true of any country in the world.

Who wrote the Book of Mormon?

Thayne

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Simple answer: A guy named Mormon who lived a long time ago.
Longer answer: A guy named Mormon who lived around 400 AD compiled the records of his people into a single volume. So Mormon is the main author, though a better word might be "abridger". There is also a section written by his son Moroni, as well as a collection of books at the front written by Mormon's ancestors, which he decided to include verbatim.Show moreShow less

God used prophets in the biblical times to relay His message and teach His children. Today, that same God is still calling prohets. Watch this video on why it's important that we have prophets on the earth today.